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I am trying to make a flat coil/helix out of a cylinder like this:

enter image description here

I have tried playing with the screw modifier but couldn't get anything close to the image.

enter image description here

Is there a modifier to do this or will I have to do it manually?

Duarte Farrajota Ramos
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Qwertie
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2 Answers2

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A easy way is to use Extra Objects addon. And choose Spirals. You can get an expected curve with a few tweakings in the left-hand Tool bar. Then use either one of the following four methods to find out the best one for you:

enter image description here

enter image description here

Added a Demo File.

I personally recommend to use Solidify modifier here, since it is easy to control, and with caps on both ends.

Leon Cheung
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  • in OPs illustration there is a gap between each of the rings(S). In your case there is no gap. – Vader Feb 17 '14 at 14:10
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    @Vader Gap can be controlled by the Depth, as shown in the screenshot. – Leon Cheung Feb 17 '14 at 14:30
  • Solidify gives me "faces needed for useful output" could you give instructions on how to use it? – Qwertie Feb 18 '14 at 08:44
  • Never mind, you can ignore that warning in such case. :) Just make sure to define an Extrude value in Geometry panel for that curve. However, the Solidify modifier cannot be applied on curve. If you are going to convert the modified result into mesh, just press Alt C > Mesh from Curve/Meta/Surf/Text. – Leon Cheung Feb 18 '14 at 11:09
  • @Qwertieϟ Did it work for you? Or anything more that I can help? – Leon Cheung Feb 27 '14 at 02:55
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I'm not sure you will get exactly what you are asking with this method. Maybe close enough.

Use the array modifier.

Start like this. It could also be a cylinder or anything.

start

Scale it up along the X axis 10%.

Add an array modifier. Uncheck relative offset. Check Object offset. Create an empty and select that as the object to offset.

Rotate the empty 90 degrees around z-axis. Scale it up 10%.

array modifier

empty transform

Increase the count in the array modifier.

spiral

Gunslinger
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